


Interview with a Queen "groupie"

by nastally



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Gen, Interviews, Meta, a genuine interview with an early Queen fan, non-fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29176680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nastally/pseuds/nastally
Summary: I interviewed a 65-year-old lady who briefly knew the Queen boys between 1972 and 1974 (not inthatway, get your mind out of the gutter), and here is the result.[UPDATED]
Relationships: Brian May & Freddie Mercury & Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury & Roger Taylor, John Deacon & Brian May & Freddie Mercury & Roger Taylor
Comments: 64
Kudos: 65





	Interview with a Queen "groupie"

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to post this here as well as Tumblr, because 1) things get buried easily on Tumblr and 2) not everybody is on Tumblr. As far as I am aware, non-fiction such as meta and interviews (especially as this is an original and not a re-post of anything) are allowed on AO3.
> 
> Thank you to QuirkySubject for giving it a final read-through to catch any typos or lack of clarity on my part.
> 
> \---
> 
> I compiled this interview following a long email exchange with J, a very sweet lady who went to Ealing Art School between 1972 and 1974. She knew all four members of Queen personally and was part of their larger circle of friends.
> 
> First off, you may find this hard to believe. I don’t blame you. But I assure you I’m not pulling your leg. As well as the pictures I share in this post, I have seen current pictures of J (which I will not share to protect her privacy). There is no indication as far as I am aware that she isn’t who she says she is.
> 
>  **Nastally, hold up. How exactly did you find this lady?**  
>  She found me. It turns out that she has been following my story _Dawn of Aquarius_ for quite some time. The story is set in 1969. A lot of research about the era went into it, because I wanted to portray that time period - and Freddie’s and Roger’s surroundings - as accurately and realistically as I possibly could. That was what drew J in. She tells me it brought back a lot of memories for her. _One of the reasons I love DoA so much is the nostalgia_ , she says, which genuinely means the world to me. Eventually, [she talked to me in the comment section](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/380523198). Of course, [I freaked out](https://a-froger-epic.tumblr.com/post/639643271956725761/when-you-suddenly-wonder-if-you-might-be-talking)! 
> 
> And then, I asked her for an interview, to which she replied: _I will give it a go, but you must remember that I am 65 and there were great drugs in the 70s, and at 16, away from home, I had a lot!_
> 
> And so...
> 
>  **Here’s what is IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND when you read this interview.**  
>  These are one woman’s 50-year-old memories and subjective impressions. J has been incredibly kind to let me pick her brain, trying to recall everything as best as she can. In her own words:  
>  _Just remember that when I answer the questions, it is from a 16-year-old who is 9 years younger than Freddie and a little girl with no family and friends in a strange country trying to fit in. The only reason I was there, was because some hippie thought I had a unique art style._
> 
> \---

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904789581/in/dateposted-public/)  
J as a teenager.

[I have edited the interview together from our long, and somewhat messy at times, email exchange. Typos have been fixed and some punctuation added for clarity, but I have not changed anything J has written to me. Again, bear in mind these are personal opinions and impressions.]

**So, J, how did you end up at Ealing Art School in 1972 and what was it like?**  
_This was the painting done for the Australian school-leaving certificate._

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904789601/in/dateposted-public/)

_It placed first and gave me a scholarship. I could pick France, the USA or England. As a dual citizen of the UK, the choice was easy. The scholarship paid for board and fees, so had to be and sell whatever for spending money._

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904088268/in/dateposted-public/)

_This picture is from the dorm. We all had a 10pm curfew and a very thick rule book that, I am proud to say, I broke every one of them, one by one. The rooms were on the 1st and 2nd floor. We were on the first floor, rooms one side and admin staff the other end. We had two bathrooms for 18 girls. One of them had two baths. The walls were your standard half wall, so it was a given that if you had a bath you run the risk of having a bucket of cold water dropped on you. Downstairs was the kitchen and lounge room._

**I want to ask you a few things about life in London in the early 70s, to get a picture of what it was really like. For example, was there alcohol at the music gigs you went to?**  
_If it was a school, church or community hall, no. If it was a pub, yes._

**Did you and your friends drink as much then as young people tend to drink now when you all went out?**  
_No, we didn't. I think it had a lot to do with money. We didn't have the disposable income, and it was unheard of to still be living at home with the parents after the age of 20._

**Was weed and LSD as big and easily accessible as depictions of the 60s and 70s would have us believe?**  
_The drugs! Got to have drugs. Pot (weed) was easy to grow, very cheap. Used to smoke it in bongs rather than joints, more bang for your buck. Trips_ [LSD] _were cheap, I think. About 2 pounds and you were on the high for over 24 hours with no sleep. My drug of choice was hash. Either the oil or the block. It was a nice high, but you could not function well. But if you listen to the music of the time it really does reflect what it was like, to have a group of friends over for a session. Having said all that the most outlandish and shocking drug I ever saw anyone use was the birth control pill. Didn't you have to hide that stuff away?!_

**Can you tell us some 70s slang that isn’t really in use anymore? What in the world does “ultra-blagging” mean? (As written in a letter penned by Freddie to his friend Celine in 1969.)**  
_Abso-bloody-lootely!  
Man, I thought I was the bees knees to be on a scholarship in London. But that didn't stop me from jigging or having a skive day. They were the days that I blagged my way into a pub, had too many lagers and ended up chundering in the gutter. That was how you knew your night was ace. I would get a right bollocking if anyone found out. It would be a bugger when all that you could find at a car boot sale was chavtastic, but sometimes you could be Jammy Dodger and tickety-boo you find something brilliant. Bob's your uncle. Anyways, I need to see a man about a dog. _

_Cheers  
J_

[It seems to me that J uses a bit of Australian slang here, like chundering, which makes sense because she is, after all, Australian. She also provided the translation:]

_It would be my honour.  
I felt very privileged to be given a scholarship that let me study in England. But being so young and having no family to guide me, it was often tempting to not turn up or give a false excuse for being sick. (I had a lot of food poisoning). These would often happen if the night before I had been drinking beer and ended up vomiting outside the pub. But in my young mind that was a good night. If any of the teachers found me drinking I would be in a lot of trouble. Often I would have to say I was holding it for someone else. Not having much clothes with me, I would buy them second hand from church jumble sales or other students and, yes, Kensington market (the market). Some of the stuff would not be very tasteful or in good condition. But sometimes you would find something that was cheap and in good condition. I will stop this text now as I must go to the toilet._

_Sincerely  
J_

_PS: Ultrablagging sounds very Freddie. Blagging was used, but not ultra, meaning to persuade someone to do something or act better than you are. They were always rock stars._

[It was at this point that I realised I was talking to an absolute legend. She also told me then that the majority of her old photographs had sadly been lost when her house was flooded in 1988, including most of the photographs from her stay in London. Noooo! :(]

**When you went out to dance, did you have only live music? Were there DJs yet?**  
_You know, that is hard. We did not have a DJ. Sometimes there would be a band. Often we looked for places with a band or the jukebox. I think pubs closed at 10pm and some stayed open to 12 or 1, but public transport stopped at 9. So if you had not arranged a lift then you had to make the last bus. Most of the time we would be heading back to someone's place to get stoned and then crash there. In the morning you would have to work out where you were. When I got back to Australia, the discos were all the rage. They could have been in London too but it was not cool to like disco._

**How many people would show up to Queen’s gigs when they played in pubs or at, for example, the Imperial College?**  
_Depending on the location and the night: 10 to 1000!_

**So how did you first meet the Queen boys?**  
_I was at the pub talking about a band we saw last week when Brian stuck his head into our booth telling us he knew a better one. Thinking about seeing them at the stall... Roger not often, Freddie quite a lot. Often on different stalls, I think that is why I can't remember the name._ [The name of the stall. Other sources confirm that Freddie also worked at Alan Muir’s stall, for example, selling shoes.]

 **How well did you know them?**  
_Just looking at your tumblr account._ [she has had a look at my blog, where somebody asked if ‘groupie’ meant she had slept with the band] _No, I never slept with the boys. I would not say I was a close friend, but I started at Ealing Art College in ‘72 and moved in the same circles. I loved the music and could be called one of the first groupies. I had to sneak into the pubs because I was 16. Roger always teased me for being so young. They all did seem to be one very large family, not just the band. It was a group of about twenty regulars, both male and female. Everyone knew that Fred was too gay to function. We were all at the gay rights march in London in 1972, had to run after the march. Lots of sharpies_ [Australian slang: youth gang, thugs] _wanting to bash us. Back then I was in every protest that was going, student union rights, even the secretary protest. Just part of the times, stick it to Man or Woman. I left London in ‘74 for Australia, been here ever since and lost track of the boys but have never stopped being a fan._

**What do you remember about them? How would you describe their personalities?**  
_Don’t let the trolls hate me, but I did not like Brian. I found him to be rather full of himself. Space was a subject you never brought up around Brian or you would die of old age before he stopped talking. He was always the first to speak and start a conversation and then quickly passed you off to John, who was always tired and shy. Roger was also quite shy at times. He was very self-conscious of his looks, as he felt being pretty, nobody would take him seriously. Fred, well, he was not yet the big star, so I think he was working on his stage persona. When talking to groups at parties, he had the best stories of things that had happened to him or close friends. They were very funny and very descriptive. He was the life of the party. When he had a few to drink or was the centre of attention, he would take a cigarette out of the closest person’s hand and start smoking. Now remember this is the point of view of a 16-year-old girl that was a fish out of water, trying to fit in and not having much worldly experience._

**It is said that Freddie and Roger were very stylish. How did they dress in everyday life?**  
_Fred would do his hair and makeup to check the mail. Yes, he was always turned out, but so were a lot of people. Freddie did go over the top with hats, scarfs and jewellery. With Roger, it is a surprise he was able to have kids his jeans were that tight. And his shirts were always open unless he was in a jumper. I think it could have been so that you knew he was male, as it was the start of the unisex clothing. When I travelled out of London I realised it was a London thing. When I got back to Australia everyone thought I was a show-off._

**There are some disagreements about how tall especially Freddie was. I know this is a difficult thing to try and remember accurately. But do you remember?**  
_Freddie was taller than me but everyone was. Roger was shorter than Fred, but I never saw Roger in platform shoes. I did meet up with the band by chance at Sydney airport in 1984, said ‘hello’ but they did not remember me, or if they did then they did not say anything and I did not want to be a dork. At that time Fred was the same height as me (5ft 8in/1.72m), Roger was taller than me. It made me think at the time that he had a growth spurt! John was shorter than me and Brian has always been tall._ [I have a feeling the platform shoes - or lack thereof - played a vital role here!]

**You said everyone knew Freddie was “too gay to function”. Attitudes towards homosexuality have changed so much that it can be hard for us, now, to fathom what exactly people must have thought of him. Was it more of a joke that he was so camp? Was it something he would have been teased for? Also, he had a girlfriend. Did you ever meet Mary or the other girlfriends?**  
_In 1972 a whole group of us - and I am pretty sure that Fred, Roger, Brian and Tim were there_ [check end notes] - _were in a gay pride march. Us youth believed you could not choose who you fell in love with and if it was same sex, so what? However, if it was two girls then it was every guy’s duty to change her!  
It was also a time that the gayer the guy was, the more the girls were interested. Also, if a guy was gay then you did not have to worry about him and he was a good person to take with you if you were going out drinking. However, the police, parents, teachers and anyone of authority were horrified and treated them badly. I did meet Mary a couple of times at pubs and once after a gig. This is just my opinion, but I found her a bitch. It could be that I was so young. It could be that I was very Australian. It could be that she felt threatened as my accent was a magnet to people around. And the boys (Queen) were no exception. Brian had a cousin in OZ and was always asking questions. I remember that my close group of friends thought that Mary made the perfect girlfriend for Fred as they were as fake as each other. Having said that about them, I often wonder if I would think the same now and if my perceptions were just because she would not give me the time of Day. Chrissy and Jo were a lot of fun._

**This was before your time, but I read that Freddie's nickname at Ealing Art School was ‘Freddie Baby’. Any ideas how this came about? His showmanship or maybe personality traits?**  
_I don't think so. There were an older crowd that would talk like that. I think the slang ‘baby’ was a 60’s thing, like groovy baby._

**How long, roughly, did Roger and Freddie have their stall? I can't find anywhere when it closed down. What did it actually look like? Was it a sort of wooden stall type of thing? Or an actual room? What were some of the other things people sold at Kensington Market? Mostly clothes or all sorts?**  
_The markets were little divided shops. The back was brick and the walls wood. I have been trying all day to remember the name._ [Of their stall - it had a name!] _I think it was something hard to say. More often than not it would be Freddie's dad in the store. It was still open when I left. Roger and Freddie were both in the store on Saturdays and some Sundays. There was a girl, I think Jill, who was in the store more. And during the week it could be anyone. You name it and you could get it at the markets. Second hand or designer clothes, shoes, jewellery, pot and assortments. Hair cuts, food, bric-a-brac._

 ** **Wait, wait. What? Freddie’s _dad_? Really now?**  
**_Yeah, it was an older Indian man. so we just assumed it was his father. It was my understanding that he started the stall then the boys would work it as the whole markets were set up for younger people, but if needed he would work there. I don't think the boys would be able to pay the rent on their own._ [J was not aware that Roger has explained in an interview that it was his college grant money which he used to pay for the stall. Mystery solved! However, the mysterious older Indian man is unlikely to have been Freddie’s father, who would have been too busy with regular work, but it’s understandable why J and her friends would have jumped to that conclusion. It sounds as though the stall - although started by Roger and Freddie in late 1969 - was tended by about a dozen different people by 1972. **UPDATE:** Check end notes or comment discussions and my replies for my theory on what J observed here.] _They always had incense burning that was very big in the 70s. I still occasionally bring out the sticks, but it does not last like the candles and diffusers of today. If you could get in touch with Robert Daniels, he ran ChaChaDumDum it was the stall across from Freddie. He would know the dates._

 ****You mentioned Roger seemed shy to you at times. Was he also quite charming? We read a lot about what a chick magnet he was. Was this the impression you had?**  
** _My favorite subject! I had a thing for Roger. Everyone has a type and mine is the blue-eyed blond. Now, before you ask, was he brunet? No, he was a mouse/dirty blond. If it was summer he would have blond streaks mostly at the ends. He knew he was pretty and was always dressed in the latest fashion and had the current hairstyle. So, being my type I was constantly watching him. Everyone slept around during that time. I did not notice Roger doing it more or less. 80% of the time he was with Jo. Yes, he was a chick magnet, but he did not do the chasing. He was always very polite to everyone. If it ever looked like there would be any conflict he would be the first to leave it. It was not that he was a coward, just not into conflict. If he saw anyone that needed help he was right there, and often had to have Freddie's back. I never saw him in a fight. He could always talk his way out of things. He was also very patient and would listen for hours to other people talk. However, he would get this vacant look in his eyes at times._

[J says it’s this look, in a picture she happened across while looking at my tumblr] _Yep, that is the one. It usually means that he does not believe or agree with something that was said and is working out how to respond, or he has lost the plot._

**[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904789506/in/dateposted-public/) **

_And Freddie would either click his fingers, change the subject or just give up. I don’t think that Brian noticed, and it would be fair game for John, he would see how far he could push it. Roger liked to drink a fair bit and when drunk he would be hanging all over Jo. If she was not there then he missed Jo. If, however, he thought that he or his friends were not being respected, then look out! It was a verbal volcano heading your way. That is what happened to me one time. I was trying to talk with my friends close to where a drunken Roger was and I yelled at him to shut the hell up, you wannabe blond. We/I coped a mouthful back, all in the same sentence, that finished with: Sorry, I didn't realise you were on your rags (period)! I have to have the last word, so I told him the truth: I don’t get them yet! (I was a late starter.) He went so red in the face and called me JB_ [jail bait] _from then._

 ** **You also mentioned Roger’s cat Ziggy having kittens. I read about this but never when exactly it was. Do you remember?**  
**_I think it was winter ‘73. I remember being cold when he was asking around the pub._ [To find homes for the kittens, I gather.]

 ****Is it quite strange reading fictional interpretations of real people you knew? When did you first find out there was Queen fanfic?**  
** _No, we used to make up stories about people all the time, a verbal fanfic. Was looking up Adam Lambert and came across the fanfics. Some had me in stitches! Others, like DoA, had me hooked._

 ****Please, allow me to be a little self-indulgent at the end. What's one thing I got totally RIGHT in DoA?**  
** _All the Ibex stuff._

 ** **What's one thing I got totally WRONG in DoA?**  
**_Roger did not have a temper, and I don’t know what the go with his father was, but he would talk about him quite a bit and was always visiting his mum._ [Absolutely fair, not only did I change the timeline of Roger’s parents divorce in DoA - for lack of information at the time - but also created a completely fictional narrative around it for the sake of storytelling.]

 ****J, thank you so much for all this, sincerely. Can you tell me a little more about yourself? Are you still an artist?**  
** _I don't paint or draw any more. At the age of a 50 the doctors operated on an aneurysm or three, and now my eyesight is very bad, I have no fine motor skills and a tremor. I was married in January 1984 and have just celebrated our 37 year anniversary. I have one daughter who is 30 and two great, although tiring grandkids. A girl, 11, and one boy, 5. I have lived my life as the average middle class Australian with great memories. Talking with you has helped me a lot to remember a time when the world was mine for the taking. When I returned to OZ I started nursing, met my best friend, and we planned that once we graduated we would go back to London to study midwifery. But I fell in love instead._

 **[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904913497/in/dateposted-public/)  
** J's wedding in 1984. As you can see, she found her own blue-eyed blond.

\---

Upon request, J has shared some of her past and present artwork with me.

These are from her time at Ealing Art School. **  
[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904913517/in/dateposted-public/)**

**[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904789666/in/dateposted-public/) **

These were done later, back in Australia. **  
[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904913612/in/dateposted-public/)  
**

J: _Did this just before Christmas as you had inspired me. It did not require fine motor skills!_ **  
**[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/185412286@N08/50904088233/in/dateposted-public/)

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it! I hope you found this little glimpse through a 16-year-old girl’s eyes as much of a fascinating read as I did. I urge everybody one more time to remember that J did not have to share any of this, and I think we all owe her a big thank you for delving into her memories. **She is likely to see the responses on AO3** , so I have comment moderation enabled as I will not let anybody harass this lovely lady. The tumblr she created is @since72, but she isn’t really an active user and also very new to it all. Again, I can only urge everybody to be respectful.
> 
> If you have other burning question for J, feel free to leave them in the comments. I will either pass them on, or she may want to reply to them herself directly.  
>  **UPDATE:** More of what J has said to me is in comment replies below, I will be adding to it if she feels like answering any more questions. She also addressed [racism in her time here](https://a-froger-epic.tumblr.com/post/642582939590410240/ive-been-thinking-about-freddie-in-the-70s-and). And said this about John:  
> "John was often just quietly sitting in the corner with a beer, or I just did not notice him."
> 
> The Tim confusion was cleared up. She found and sent me a picture of a boy who looks a bit like Tim, but isn't. She had thought it was _our_ Tim, but hadn't really know him (or the real Tim) as she wasn't there for the Smile era (obviously).
> 
> \---
> 
> **I encourage you to read the comment discussions!**
> 
> \---
> 
>  **Update [07/02/2020]:**  
>  Since this was posted, there has naturally been a lot of discussion about the veracity of the interview, the source, and my own motivations in posting it. I fully expected that, and let me just say that nobody (apart from a small handful of anonymous trolls) has behaved inappropriately in these discussions. **I have not received any “hate” because of this. There is no “drama”.** Nobody is wrong, or a party-pooper, or attacking me by expressing their doubts. I have seen some awful bile spat at people anonymously over the last few days, and [**that kind of behaviour has got to stop**](https://a-froger-epic.tumblr.com/post/642317946794983424/i-know-right-so-much-of-it-is-just-did).
> 
> Now, if you are reading this and you don't think _I_ am genuine, there is obviously nothing I can do about that. 
> 
> However, what I am hoping to do here is add as much transparency as I can in regard to how and why the interview happened, as well as share my own full thoughts on it with you. If you are interested, [read on.](https://a-froger-epic.tumblr.com/post/642467977769500672/about-the-interview)
> 
> \---


End file.
